Friday, July 22, 2011

We had a playdate on Tuesday and we made yummy soft pretzels with the kids. I had to dust off the archives to find this one, since I haven't made them since the good 'ol Home Ec days. I would call them easy, but with a lot of steps. It sure was a crowd pleaser!

Dissolve the yeast in the 2 tablespoons of warm water. Add remaining 1-1/3 water and brown sugar. Stir to dissolve. Gradually add 5 cups of flour. and mix in a mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix until dough forms into a ball.

Meanwhile, boil 2-3 quarts of water with the baking soda and preheat the oven to 475 degrees.

Continue to knead ball until smooth. Pinch off dough into golf ball sized chunks. Roll the dough into a long snake. Twist into a pretzel shape.

Lower the pretzel into the soda water and allow to boil for 30/60 seconds (or until it floats.) Remove from water and place on a greased cookie sheet. Spread with melted butter and top with salt, if desired.

Bake for 10 minutes in a 475 degree oven until golden. Brush with butter again, Serve or roll in cinnamon sugar for a sweet version.

People may or may not know this, but mom and I had a craft business for many, many years called Hen and Chick. We would peddle our wares at craft shows across the valley and eventually opened a storefront in Chino Valley for 2 years. We tried to keep a country store atmosphere, handmaking most of the items.

One of the products we would distribute were these little recipe booklets from Jackie Ganaway. They were inexpensive and had good, tested recipes in them. One book, "Lookie, Lookie, It's Going to be a Cookie!" had 50 recipes to make cookies out of cake mixes.

Our favorite is the Chocolate Cookies. They are the EASIEST cookie EVER! The batch makes about 30 cookies, and we only have 9 left. 'nuff said. :-)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together and form dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes until puffed and crackled. Cool on a tray.

My Mom, Jackie Bailey Carman

Introduction

Five years ago, my mother passed away. Even though she was sick, her death was unexpected. She, like I loved to cook. She subscribed to a variety of cooking magazines, religiously clipped gems from the Wednesday newspaper, and swapped recipes with her friends. Over the years, her repertoire and recipe box grew.

Upon her passing, I became guardian of her collection. Her recipe box now filled with family favorites, and memories. Some of the recipes, I know by heart. Some I only remember having the dishes on special occasions, made the way mom made them.

To honor her, my greatest teacher, supporter, and inspiration I want to share her legacy with my memories. I will try to give credit to the original recipe owner, when I can. Many of these have been passed around and I am not sure where they came from, but I will do my best. More importantly, for me, are the memories that each of these hold.